The ACQUITY UPLC System eliminates significant time and cost per sample from your analytical process while improving the quality of your results. By outperforming traditional or optimized HPLC, this technology allows chromatographers to work at higher efficiencies with a much wider range of linear velocities, flow rates, and backpressures.

UPLC Technology, which has been adopted successfully in laboratories around the world for the most demanding separations, is highly robust, dependable, and reproducible. What differentiates the holistic design of ACQUITY UPLC systems is Waters’ patented sub-2-μm hybrid particle chemistry, which offers significant benefits over today’s HPLC systems equipped with standard 5-μm particle chemistries.

The ACQUITY UPLC System, used on its own or paired with Waters optical and MS detection technologies, provides unique end-to-end solutions for all industries and applications, including: ADME screening, food safety, bioanalysis, clinical, metabolite identification, metabonomics, method development, opens access, and routine quality screens.

Since its invention, ACQUITY UPLC Technology has enabled analytical chemists to reach far beyond conventional HPLC separations.

Read on to discover other ACQUITY UPLC systems optimized for your specific applications, or skip down to see the features of the ACQUITY UPLC System.

• Comprehensive system components, including the ACQUITY UPLC Sample Organizer, Column Manager and Heater/Cooler, Binary Solvent Manager and Sample Manager, for customized throughput and condition requirements
• Easy HPLC to UPLC method conversion with the ACQUITY UPLC console calculator
• Support for existing HPLC methods
• Predictive system support with Connections INSIGHT^® remote intelligent services
• Chemistries and formats to suit specific analytical tasks, including ACQUITY UPLC 1.7 μm columns, VanGuard pre-columns or ACQUITY UPLC HSS and HSS T3 1.8 μm columns
• Extended detection capabilities with ACQUITY UPLC Fluorescence (FLR), Tunable UV (TUV), Photodiode Array (PDA), Evaporative Light Scattering (ELS), and Refractive Index (RI) detectors to single, tandem, and time-of-flight mass spectrometers
• Easily compatible with third-party MS solutions (ABI/MDS SCIEX, Bruker Daltonics, and Thermo Fisher Scientific)

Efficiency gains with sub-2 μm particles:

• Provides 3X higher efficiency than 5 μm particles
• 70% higher resolution than 5 μm particles
• For gradient separations, peak capacity is used to measure the resolving power

Better information gained when analyzing more samples per unit time:

• Column length can be reduced by a factor of three with methods transitioned from 5 μm particles to sub-2 μm particles, with the same efficiency
• Separations can be run at a 3X higher flow rate
• Generate a 9X increase in throughput with no loss in resolution

Detect compounds at increasingly lower levels without inherent changes to the detection mode, either optical or MS:

• The ACQUITY UPLC System with sub-2 μm particles provides up to 70% higher sensitivity
• In the case of equal efficiency but faster analysis times, the equivalent is 3X higher sensitivity than 5 μm particles
• Beyond optical detection and looking at MS, the less dispersed peaks with higher concentration effectively yield improved ionization efficiency, making ACQUITY UPLC the ideal inlet for any MS detector

How do chromatographic technologies compare?

Waters’ cutting-edge UltraPerformance LC^® technology, based on known chromatographic principles, outperforms HPLC in every respect.

HPLC Resolution

Optimized HPLC separation of acetaminophen, caffeine, 7-hydroxycoumarin and coumarin, USP resolution determined from acetaminophen and caffeine peaks.

UPLC Resolution

The ACQUITY UPLC System provides more resolution, while maintaining throughput.

The ACQUITY UPLC System provides increased throughput and sensitivity, while maintaining resolution.

HPLC Speed and Sensitivity

Optimized HPLC separation of acetaminophen, caffeine, 7-hydroxycoumarin and coumarin, USP resolution determined from acetaminophen and caffeine peaks.

UPLC Speed and Sensitivity

ACQUITY UPLC provides increased throughput and sensitivity, while maintaining resolution.

The ACQUITY UPLC System provides more resolution and sensitivity, while increasing throughput with optional elevated temperatures.

HPLC Resolution, Speed, and Sensitivity

Optimized HPLC separation of acetaminophen, caffeine, 7-hydroxycoumarin and coumarin, USP resolution determined from acetaminophen and caffeine peaks.

UPLC Resolution, Speed, and Sensitivity

ACQUITY UPLC provides more resolution and sensitivity, while increasing throughput with optional elevated temperatures.